The Chase LoungeA discussion forum dedicated to the HBO series The Sopranos and creator David Chase2018-09-26T09:11:34-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/app.php/feed2018-09-26T09:11:34-06:002018-09-26T09:11:34-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3022&p=29300#p29300BTW, welcome to The Chase Lounge.:-)

]]>2018-09-25T09:28:54-06:002018-09-25T09:28:54-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=1607&p=29299#p292991 - Annoying and supposed to annoy the viewer with their actions: Janice as the main character for all of her personality issues ("I'm sure most of you will probably remember I have an extraordinary visual sense, but my mother didn't let me rest on those laurels") that typifies why the character of Janice is just annoying.

Peripheral annoying and supposed to be annoying character - Carm's mom. The whole scene at Hughe's 75th birthday comes to mind.

2. Annoying by accident or because the actor just rubs us the wrong way: Hunter and Noah toss-up

]]>2018-09-25T09:17:05-06:002018-09-25T09:17:05-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3022&p=29298#p29298Assimilation and urbanization of Italians in America has thinned their need and pool of new mob talent. In the show, they all live in the suburbs of Newark. Newark serving only as a location of economic opportunity BUT their influence and force as fixtures IN the city is all but gone.

The economy, changing rapidly now and changing how the mob operates, but also at the time of the show (Patsy trying to shakedown a corporate coffee chain and Tony selling the building he rents to poultry merchants) represents the traditional 20th century strongholds of the mob evaporating.

Being in NJ myself and seeing the change in how the public perceives the mob, the show mirrored reality.

Even now in 2018, the mob has changed greatly from how it was in say 2004.

So with this in mind, there are some inconsistencies in how the mob and its figures are portrayed in the show. An example is how some are treated as household names, somewhat celebrity status. Tony and Junior are mobbed by reporters after jail and court appearances. Phil has Nancy Sinatra sing at his becoming the boss party. Several news clips discussing even peripheral mob figures (e.g. "class of 2004") like Tony B., Angelo etc. This isn't consistent with how the mob was actually covered at the time and much of that type of news coverage stopped in the 90s after Gotti (arguably the last celebrity don). The real NJ family operated outside of pop culture.

I can see if DC wanted to use creative license to portray the mob in the 1970s/80s style way in the show's universe of pop culture BUT he does this AND conveys (realistically) the mob's decline and change in pop culture's psyche. Especially after 9/11 where the mob was able to flourish somewhat with federal law enforcement's shifting priorities BUT they did so with lower visibility. Without the same political influence they once had in the mid 20-century into the late 1980s, they couldn't afford to be as visible and flagrant with their activities.

Thoughts?

I love this forum by the way and would love to get some good conversations going.

]]>2018-09-25T07:18:02-06:002018-09-25T07:18:02-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3021&p=29297#p29297Mink visits the Bing to tell Tony of the likelihood of indictment and the fact that someone is talking (Tony knows it's Carlo which we later learn to be true). This scene show's Mink's relative incompetence and Tony's obvious frustration.

Mink's incompetence and distracted focus- Mink can't get the ketchup out of the bottle to put on his burger- As he's trying, he looks up at the camera monitor and watches a danger moving topless down the hall- He references the gun charge right after saying that there's an 80-90% chance of indictment. Remember, he mocked the gun charge when Essex County picked it up. It got tossed and then the Feds rolled that into a RICO as a predicate. Mink was short-sighted regarding the importance of the gun charge and Tony actually alluded to that earlier in the season.

Tony's Frustration- He is visibly annoyed as Mink is talking- His frustration peaks after several attempts by Mink to get the ketchup out of the bottle, he grabs the bottle from him- After that show of frustration subsides, Mink reminds Tony of expectations of being a mob boss "not like we haven't envisioned this day". I mean, he's right but it's an expression of defeat and absolving himself of his role in not being able to counsel Tony away from this situation (again, implying incompetence). - Mink says "trials are there to be won". Tony lets out a close-eyed half sigh/laugh expressing a subconscious lack of confidence in Mink in such a trial.

To end the scene and transition to Tony's "other" possible only end, Mink again stares up at the camera monitor to see two dancers talking topless.

A monitor starts the next scene but it's a heart rate and vital signal monitor in a hospital, Sil's hospital room. Between monitor beeps we can faintly hear a commercial on his room TV. The commercial describes a kitchen tool called the "Magic Bullet".

Tony walks into the room as Gabriella is filing Sil's toenails. She leaves and Tony stands in silence. The TV program ("Little Miss Sunshine") comes back on after the commercials. Tony looks up at the TV just before a little girl in the show lets out a loud and piercing scream. DC devotes 8 seconds to showing the scene from the show. It's possible, considering how DC decided to show this, that the little girl was a proxy for the scream we never heard from Meadow as she entered Holstein's right as Tony was being murdered because we were in Tony's perspective and he would have never heard it. Regardless of the significance, or not, of that 8 second clip, the scene shows Tony's only other possible ending, being shot.

]]>2018-09-25T05:56:33-06:002018-09-25T05:56:33-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=3020&p=29296#p29296I noticed this for the first time I think (maybe I noticed it before and didn't remember but anyway). When Kelly gets the news over the phone of Chris's death, it's a brief scene (kind of like her role in the series as a whole), and we don't hear any dialogue only her reaction. She drops the phone and screams. Simultaneously, a man on the TV belts out a laugh.

Tony's relief is no secret and is actually the main theme of this episode but this was a small way to symbolize Tony's delight and relief and transition to him (not a proxy on TV) explicitly stating his relief to Dr. Melfi (in dream form and reality). Kelly's appearance at the funeral is mocked as well.

]]>2018-09-25T05:39:06-06:002018-09-25T05:39:06-06:00https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=1726&p=29295#p29295For Walden, it's both...he is nervous and filling a void in the scene but for Silvio's response and the show "what's with you and Carlo's fucking arrival"? is a small foreshadowing. Carlo has weird background gestures with his son in the last few episodes and we ultimately learn he turns. David Chase really elevated Carlo's appearances, importance and references gradually. No matter what you think of the end, something "got" Tony...either a bullet or Carlo flipping.

I like Benny's comment here, describing how he heard about Chris's death as if it's relevant. "I was out making collections when Anthony Mafay called."

There is a tendency among people to tell other people how they came about news of something tragic such as death of a friend or relative.

No, she never mentions Furio again. If it was Furio in the church she didn't see him.

Tony never asked Annalisa what happened to Furio, it seems to me that in the final is not he who calls the Neapolinian against Leotardo, but Silvio, Are the relations with the Neapoli's ruined because of Furio??